Would YOU live in a virtual world for 28 days? Artist to wear Oculus Rift headset for a month to experience life through another person's eyes - but is it safe?


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A British artist plans to wear a virtual reality headset for 28 days straight in a confined space to experience life through another person's eyes.

Mark Faird will live in an art gallery in London comprising a bed and bathroom area and will not remove the Oculus Rift headset for the duration of the exhibition.

The 'Seeing-I' exhibit is intended to raise questions of intimacy, surveillance and voyeurism in the world today using virtual reality technology.

A British artist plans on wearing a virtual reality headset for 28 days in a confined space to experience life through another person's eyes. Mark Faird (pictured) will live in an art gallery comprising a bed and bathroom area and will not remove the Oculus Rift headset for the duration of the exhibition

A British artist plans on wearing a virtual reality headset for 28 days in a confined space to experience life through another person's eyes. Mark Faird (pictured) will live in an art gallery comprising a bed and bathroom area and will not remove the Oculus Rift headset for the duration of the exhibition

The social-artistic experiment will be overseen by a psychologist because no-one has ever worn a virtual reality headset for so long in one stint and there are health concerns.

'For 24 hours a day for 28 days, artist Mark Farid will wear a virtual reality headset through which he will experience life through another person's eyes and ears - this person will be referred to as 'the other', according to the Kickstarter website. 

The artist is raising cash on the crowd funding website to make the exhibition possible.

'For 24 hours a day for 28 days, artist Mark Farid will wear a Virtual Reality Headset through which he will experience life through another person's eyes and ears - this person will be referred to as 'the other', according to the Kickstarter website. He is shown sleeping in an Oculus Rift headset, in a test run

'For 24 hours a day for 28 days, artist Mark Farid will wear a Virtual Reality Headset through which he will experience life through another person's eyes and ears - this person will be referred to as 'the other', according to the Kickstarter website. He is shown sleeping in an Oculus Rift headset, in a test run

He will have no previous relationship with the person through whom he will experience the world, but will be aware that 'the other' is a heterosexual male, who is in a relationship.

'The other' person living outside the gallery, will have to wear a pair of glasses that covertly capture audio and video.

This footage will then be watched back by Mr Faird, who will inhabit a space consisting of only a bed, a toilet and shower area, and will be on constant display to the public apart from one hour after he goes to sleep.

Mark Faird (pictured) will have no contact with any other real humans during the time of isolation and will eat what 'the other' eats and shower when 'the other' showers, for example

Mark Faird (pictured) will have no contact with any other real humans during the time of isolation and will eat what 'the other' eats and shower when 'the other' showers, for example

During this time, a psychologist will check on Mr Faird's welfare and the headset will also act as a 'verbal diary' to capture his mental health, the website says.

The artist will have no contact with any other real humans during the time of isolation and will eat what 'the other' eats and shower when 'the other' showers, for example.

Presumably the artist will see the most intimate details of the 'other's' life through his eyes.

The team of artists and video directors behind the project write: 'Over the course of the project, it will become apparent whether Mark will begin to lose his own sense of self, and start to inhabit the reality of the other.'

'With no one to talk to, and no one to validate any of Mark's thoughts, will his only source of validation - the other's life - become the life which makes sense to Mark?'

The artist could alternatively retain his own sense of self and exist in a strange 'no man's land' they explained.

The findings of the arty experiment will be made into a documentary which will include commentary by psychiatrists, psychologists, neuroscientists, philosophers and artists.

So far the group of artists behind the project have raised just over £2,000 of their ambitious £150,000 goal, with 29 days to go.

MEDICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROJECT 

The exhibition seeks to find out whether the artist will lose his sense of self and experience life though another person's eyes.

The end result of the experiment is unknown to everyone, and has the potential for a variety of implications to the artist's physical and mental health.

A psychologist will check on Mark Faird's health throughout the 28 days and if he is not coping it will be cut short.

His physical and mental health will be constantly monitored to ensure his eyesight is not harmed by wearing a virtual reality headset for so long, for example.

He is undergoing sessions with a psychologist in preparation for this project so it is possible to assess how the project has affected him.



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